Never stop learning.
When I was a young boy fishing from the bank for whatever would bite I thought I was a fisherman.

In my twenties I began Bass fishing and became quit good at it and I thought I was a fisherman.

In my forties I resumed Crappie fishing and realized that I was NOT a fisherman. Everyday and every trip for the next 40 years I learned something new about the most unpredictable and stubborn fish on earth.
Someday I hope to become a fisherman.

A few of this year�s lessons.
Lure size is sometimes as important as colors. For years I noticed large 4" or larger shad in the fish I cleaned and still I used tiny hand tied or plastic baits. Recently I started trying bigger baits some as large as 4" and to my surprise I caught plenty of fish, even lots of small ones. Often out fishing others using small baits.
Conclusion: Don't you decide what the fish want, try everything until something works.

Over the years I have tried many (hundreds) of different types of brushpiles both natural and artificial. Both in the lake and in boat slips and docks. I have learned that as with graphs, bigger is better.

A recent lesson (Thanks to Pat Martin) involved slip fishing. Pat asked me if I had tried �fishing motors�. Not having a clue as to what he meant I asked for a demo.
Look for a boat that is backed into the slip. Stern drive (inboard outdrive) usually.
(the closer to the dock for darkness the better). Fish about 2� to 3� deep around the motor. Fish will usually hit immediately if they are there. Bait fish hold around the motor and so do Crappie and Bass. The 8# bass I caught yesterday came off a motor 2� deep in 23� deep water. Fish a motor for one or two min and move on. Usually only one or two will be on a motor. But more will be there soon so come back often.

After doing this successfully for a couple of weeks my mind finally kicked in gear and I said to myself �if they will hold on a shallow motor what else will they hold on�? These boat slips I had been fishing had no hanging cover to hold fish so I started fishing shallow in front of other boats with no cover and got nothing. It was the shallow cover (motors) holding the fish. So, Wed. I grabbed one of the plastic stack chairs
off my deck and hung it 2� deep in front of a pontoon boat down from my slip.
Boat was close to the dock in front and it was quite dark under it. I had fished there several times before with no luck. On Thurs morning I tried it and caught two big Crappie 3� deep off it. Friday morning I caught 3 there and a small bass.
Obviously I need to hang a few more shallow chairs or whatever near my boat Slip.

Maybe by the time I get old I will be a fisherman.

One more trick that works. Make a 18" square minnow trap out of hardware cloth. No need for the cone to catch minnows. Just make a small door on top and add about 2 doz minnows and lower about 3 ft down. When crappie collect at night under the docks, they see the minnows and hang out by them waiting for a meal. Drop a jig or a minnow and if they're there, the bite comes quick.

great advice as usual

Nice advise.

Ernest, I appreciate the idea that you should always strive to learn something new about crappie fishing(fishing in general.) I relived the various stages of "I am a great fisherman self" just as you mentioned, It's interesting to watch and listen to a true master of the fishing game, no matter the species. Their tales of getting beat, solving a problem, and learning to get better never fail to impress me. Kind of like reading a Louis Lamour book, just when you think you have it figured out the story takes a new turn. The new recommendations are proof that good ideas can come from any source and that there is no RIGHT ANSWER all the time. From my perspective, to become a master fisherman, you have to be willing to go beyond your own knowledge, listen to others ideas, tactics and try them until you can figure out how they make it work, and then try to make it better. I was just waiting with anticipation, to see what "new idea" you had come up with when you were asking for chair donations. As Paul Harvey would say...and now you know the Rest of the Story! Thanks again, for all that you do to advise the less experienced!

Good Stuff guys...Keep it coming!

Great advise and ideas...speaking of ideas, if those plastic chairs work, how about plastic milk crates?
The minnows can swim in and out of the small holes and the crappie will gather around waiting for an easy meal. You could tie four of them together. Run rope through the center and stack them.
Suspend 3 or 4 of these with several feet between them.

Great description of those crappie feesh......that's what I enjoy about chasing'em....

Everyday and every trip for the next 40 years I learned something new about the most unpredictable and stubborn fish on earth.

Never a truer word ever spoken. I sure do love crappie and crappie fishing but the little buggers are very hard to find and catch sometimes.

This chair was in the water for three days. Notice all the fish eggs on it. I don't know if they are shad or crappie. Chair was hanging 2' below the surface. I moved it to a new spot and caught a Crappie off it an hour later.

Great post!

what do I tell all my neighbors when they ask me if I've seen their chairs,..??

Good job Ernest.

Great advice, Ernest and good to see you, Guy, and the old school around this morning. I quietly watch y'all sometimes(technique, not color, size, or kind of jig). I will say I saw a chair accidently fall in the water this morning a few slips up the way from us. I may have to see if I can 'fetch' some fish by it sometimes. I may have to pay closer attention *cough* next time.

I agree about the boat motor/close to the dock/darkness theory. I learned this at other marinas I either rented at, or were allowed to fish years ago at where there was no noticeable brush hanging in the slips and have caught some very nice size slabs.

Thanks for the story...

I like your combined milk crates idea. Only minor issue is I could see is jig hooks getting snagged in those holes.

I have some porcupine/star shaped pvc crates, 5ft diameter that need a home. Avoid the crate and work the pvc and no snags (or just use bps plastic hook guards)

Eric